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NFL NFL Season is Underway FOXBORO, Mass. — Surely, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has heard the talk about his less-than-inspiring Week 1 performance, a loss in which the offense largely turned over the keys to its second-year quarterback while abandoning the run. But Maye had some misfires. At times, he looked jittery in the pocket. His footwork wasn’t perfect. He straight-up missed open receivers. Advertisement After a few days to digest the 20-13 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, though, Maye and his coaches are optimistic it was simply one tough outing in a still-promising season. “I feel like I made some pretty good throws throughout the game that I felt good about accuracy-wise, ” Maye said. “So I’m not going to harp on too much. But at the same time, you’ve got to hit guys when they’re open, so it’s a balance. … Being accurate is what I take pride in, and you can’t miss open guys. ” LIVE: Drake Maye Press Conference 9/10 https: //t. co/ji WRPg1s Qk — New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 10, 2025 It is well known that the Patriots roster is still lacking at a number of positions. They’ll be at a talent disadvantage in many games, this Sunday’s in Miami included (despite the dysfunction that seems to be swirling around the Dolphins). But the hope for the Pats is in what Maye can do in Year 2 alongside new coach Mike Vrabel. The opener left plenty to be desired for Maye — 30-of-46 passing for 287 yards, one touchdown and one interception. But on Thursday, offensive coordinator Josh Mc Daniels stuck up for the 23-year-old. “The biggest thing for me is he’s a young quarterback, ” Mc Daniels said. “He’s learning through all these experiences, and he’s the right guy. And so we’re going to have an opportunity to continue to grow and improve and get better. And I think I’d be really … jumping the gun if I try to sit here and pinpoint one or two things (he needs to improve). We work on a lot of things to try to get better every day. And he’s going to improve. ” There’s nothing more important for the Patriots this season than the progression of Maye. And the thought entering the season was that complementary football would help him. Run the ball well. Play good defense. Don’t ask him to do too much. Advertisement That all went out the window in Week 1. The Pats ran the ball three times in the second half. Maye dropped back to pass more than 50 times. “Obviously, we want to stay balanced as much as we can, ” Mc Daniels said. “You look back and there are things you wish you did differently here and there. ” So what did the offensive coordinator see from the team’s three running backs? “They need the ball more, ” he said. Mc Daniels’ offense is complex. It was always going to be a challenge for Maye to master it in one offseason. But eyebrows were raised earlier this week when Vrabel said he’d evaluate whether there was too much on Maye’s plate. A quarterback in Mc Daniels’ scheme has a lot of say when he gets to the line ahead of the snap. He has multiple plays he can switch to, plus alerts to make. It seemed to be an admission that Maye might not be ready for all of that. But on Thursday, Mc Daniels pushed back on that idea. “No. No. We haven’t given him anything more than what we’ve given him all year, which is not too much, ” Mc Daniels said. “I think we have to understand it’s his first game in our system. … I thought he made a lot of good plays, thought he made a lot of good decisions, but I’m focused really on the process of him getting better every day. ” Vrabel spoke earlier this week about emphasizing to Maye that he doesn’t need to be perfect. “We all have to get past that, ” Vrabel said. “You need to be precise and not perfect. ” To that end, perhaps a matchup against the Dolphins will help. Miami’s defense ranked 27th in EPA per play in Week 1 and 26th in success rate. The Indianapolis Colts scored on all seven of their possessions against the Dolphins, the first time since 2000 a team had done so. The Colts had 156 rushing yards against the Dolphins. Now, after Maye struggled in the opener, the Patriots aren’t hiding their desire to run the ball more — and more successfully — while maintaining their confidence in their young quarterback. Advertisement “We’re trying to establish the run, ” Maye said. “So, from that point, I think you win games running the football and stopping the run, so (we’re) trying to set that up. I feel like we’ve got guys that we can throw to in space and make plays, and we can hurt teams in the pass. So, I don’t feel like anything’s changed. I’m just trying to do my part in whatever they ask me to do. ” (Photo: Adam Glanzman / Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Chad Graff is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the New England Patriots since 2022 after five years on the Minnesota Vikings beat. Graff joined The Athletic in January 2018 after covering a bit of everything for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He won the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2022 Bob Oates Award for beat writing. He's a New Hampshire native and an adjunct professor of journalism at Northeastern University. Follow Chad on Twitter @Chad Graff